WITH BARRY ROBINSON

I

have been making my own lures

using polyurethane resin for a

couple of years now and although

I still make a few wooden lures

80% of my lures are made from resin.

The reasons I was initially drawn to

resin lures are as follows:

Q Consistent lure shapes that would be

a perfect copy of my original carving

QThe ability to test the lures straight

from the mold

QEach blank is completely waterproof

(no sealing required).

There are many ways to make molds/

resin lures this is just my way and I am

in no way implying that my way is the

‘correct’ way. I have been learning as I

go and have ruined many blanks and

molds in the process. Hopefully I can

help you to avoid some of the costly

mistakes I made.

Poly urethane resin is usually made

up of two parts A and B, I will not go to

into the science of it because there is

lots of information online if you wish to

read up on the facts. Part A and B are

mixed either by weight or by volume

and once cured create a very tough,

hard and durable lure body (not all

urethanes are the same and some are

designed to flex, care must be taken to

choose the correct product). Urethane

casting resin is usually ivory in colour

when cured but you can also get clear

cure and also pigment the resin quite

easily if you wish.

The

M

ost resin lure builders use a

two part mold and I have used

this technique to good effect

before, the technique however has

its limitations when using heavily

filled resins. Two part molds are

generally fixed together with

clamps or elastic bands prior to

pouring the resin; this simply does

not work for me as I like my lure

bodies to be quite buoyant. Once

I have added sufficient micro

balloons to achieve this buoyancy,

the resin has a consistency of

thick cream and simply will not be

pourable into the pour hole. I have

come up with a mold that works

perfectly for me and I will explain

how, and more importantly ‘why’

I make the mold this way.

PIC 1: The lure I am using for this

article is one of my mini jerks that

are made from resin; I carved the

original from beech like I do all my

masters. The white resin will be

more visible for this article but the

principles are exactly the same.

Once you have completed a

master or have a lure body you

wish to mold you need to prepare

the lure. I mount the hook hangers

in advance and seal the hole with

either milliput or in this case

Making the mold box and silicone mold

bluetak, this will leave me with

recesses in the mold which to

insert my hook hangers prior to

pouring. One thing to note is that

the silicone will pick up even the

smallest imperfection so really

make sure your master is as good

as you can get it before you go

any further.

PIC 2: Once the master is ready

you will need to make a stand for

the lure, I do this by drilling the

back of the lure and inserting a

piece of 8mm brass tube. I then fix

the other end into a wooden stand

I made from half a wooden egg

that I picked up from a craft store.

The reason I mount the lure upside

down is so the hook hangers end

up at the bottom of the mold.

PICS 3&4: You can make a mold

box out of lots of materials and if

you find a suitable plastic box lying

x

e around by all means use that. I

make my boxes to suit each lure

as I may re-use a box many times,

to do this I start with a smooth

sided material such as foamexe

board or in this case clear acrylic.

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